This crime is as old as time, just like childhood sexual abuse yet the stories never fail to bring me to tears. I've long held a curiosity about just what it is in the human psyche that causes a person to starve a child. Is it jealousy, rage, inner conflict, a repeat of abuse long ago meted out to the parent? What is the true root of scapegoating and how can we, as a society, prevent it?
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110915/NEWS01/709159830/-1/news01
$500,000 bail for suspect in assault of child
A judge on Thursday set bail at $500,000 for a Mukilteo woman accused of assaulting a 10-year-old girl and depriving the underweight child of food. Mary Mazalic, 34, also was prohibited from being around children.
Mazalic is being held on suspicion of first degree assault of a child. She was arrested Wednesday for investigation of assaulting and mistreating the girl who was emaciated when she was removed from her home in August.
At the time, the girl weighed 51 pounds, about two-thirds the weight of a healthy child her age. She spent about two weeks in an Everett hospital being treated for severe malnutrition. She also had multiple bruises, abrasions and scars all over her body...."
and
"....Doctors told investigators that the girl had cigarette burns on her wrist and the tops of her feet. Marks all over her stomach and chest were likely from some sort of cord, according to court records. The girl also had a kidney infection. Doctors concluded that the girl likely was deprived of food and water. The girl has gained about 20 pounds since she was removed from the home a month ago, Paul said.
The girl initially told authorities that she was fed three meals a day and was treated well. She later told a social worker that if she talked, she was told that her brothers would be taken away from her and separated...."
more at link
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110915/NEWS01/709159830/-1/news01
$500,000 bail for suspect in assault of child
A judge on Thursday set bail at $500,000 for a Mukilteo woman accused of assaulting a 10-year-old girl and depriving the underweight child of food. Mary Mazalic, 34, also was prohibited from being around children.
Mazalic is being held on suspicion of first degree assault of a child. She was arrested Wednesday for investigation of assaulting and mistreating the girl who was emaciated when she was removed from her home in August.
At the time, the girl weighed 51 pounds, about two-thirds the weight of a healthy child her age. She spent about two weeks in an Everett hospital being treated for severe malnutrition. She also had multiple bruises, abrasions and scars all over her body...."
and
"....Doctors told investigators that the girl had cigarette burns on her wrist and the tops of her feet. Marks all over her stomach and chest were likely from some sort of cord, according to court records. The girl also had a kidney infection. Doctors concluded that the girl likely was deprived of food and water. The girl has gained about 20 pounds since she was removed from the home a month ago, Paul said.
The girl initially told authorities that she was fed three meals a day and was treated well. She later told a social worker that if she talked, she was told that her brothers would be taken away from her and separated...."
more at link